Samsung has gone Omnia Crazy

World’s number two (2) mobile manufacturer, Samsung, has gone crazy with the Omnia brand. The saga has its roots in the launch of the original Omnia, the i900, which we at MobiNaija were mot particularly fond of. But we hear that it sold in shiploads.

Next up was the Omnia HD i8910, running on Symbian s60 5th Edition. The specs of the HD got us hooked, but you know us – we’re lost without a QWERTY keyboard on our mobile devices.

But let it be said here and now, the HD outclasses Nokia’s self-proclaimed “world’s most advanced mobile computer“, the N97, in almost everything – and the HD was released before the N97. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

If Sammy had slapped a QWERTY on the HD, we would have jumped in the boat. Ah, but the mobile world does not revolve around us now; does it? Shall we move on?

Not too long ago, another Omnia was announced – the i8000, again pure touchscreen. But Sammy wasn’t done yet.

Three (3) new phones have now been added to the Omnia range:

Samsung B7300 OmniaLITE

Samsung B7320 OmniaPRO

B7610 Omnia Pro

All three of them run WinMo 6.1 and we hear they will be upgradeable to 6.5 later (insert caveats). I am definitely feeling the Samsung B7320 OmniaPRO with the QWERTY candybar form factor, but just looking at the full slide-out QWERTY keyboard on the B7610 OmniaPRO gives me goose bumps. As if.

I do wish that the keyboard had 5 rows instead, so we can have dedicated number keys. But, hey, a guy is free to wish…

Notice also that there are two “Omnia Pros”. How do we distinguish them in everyday speech? Those numbers B7320 and B7610 are not the kind of things I want to use when speaking everyday. Capiche?

One thing I have observed is that the Omnia range is made up of smartphones only. Perhaps that is Samsung’s plan. The Korean manufacturer has also said that the Omnia range of devices will not be restricted to one smartphone OS.

We have already seen a number of WinMo devices and one Symbian device in the line-up. When do we get an Android Omnia, Uncle Sam? And please put a QWERTY keyboard on that one!

We’ll behave and be good. Any thing you want us to do, if only you’ll grant us this one wish.

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About Mister Mobility

Mister Mobility started blogging about mobile in 2004 as a fun way to share his passion for gadgets and mobile services. He has owned over 200 mobile phones. His current device is a Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.

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One comment

Well,we must commend samsung for its performance in the mobile world both in terms of hardware and software development.But i dont agree with you that samsung omnia i8910 HD is better than nokia N97.

I mean this is a phone that the whole world is sleeplessly waiting for its release given nokia’s popularity. And even b4 its official release,some developers association have started awarding it, as one of the greatest hand held gadget.

Samsung i8910 HD is only Jampacked with specs it can not handle as we heard from its buyers in UK who had to return them because of its flaws.Recently again,samsung company itself had to apologize for telling lies that it included a function that users later discovered was not actually there on the phone as stated.

So is it not better to put only those few specs that a phone can handle efficiently and effectively instead of overloading it with specs that can not work or work perfectly? Remember, this was what drove Sendo out of the market after producing sendo X.

I believe iphone is respected today because its specs are few but perfectly functional.Nokia owns symbian os and knows how to use it better than any one and so they give there phone only those specs they know it can handle fully well.So,samsung i8910 HD may be good but,WHY would i buy a Ferrari if i can not drive it on a top speed.